After a very aggressive first two weeks of the season, with games against (arguably) some of the best teams in NKY, the Mustangs hit the road to Edgewood, KY on Tuesday night. The Mustangs were forced to make some last minute adjustments due to injury and illness. They took to the field in their white jerseys and without a senior in the starting lineup.
Dixie Goalkeeper, Braden Blackburn, and the Colonel defense entered the game in their red and gray stripes and with zero goals allowed so far this season. This veteran team rostered 10 seniors.
It didn’t take long for Dixie’s well-executed passing game to develop into their first goal. Their offense slipped 2 more goals by our defense and keeper, making the score 3-0 within the first 20 minutes. Coach Dunlevy and his coaching staff proceeded to make necessary adjustments and the Mustangs started to find their groove. Freshman Sam Chirumbolo, found himself with a breakaway in the middle of the field and worked his way into the 18. The Dixie defenders collapsed on the crafty freshman, committing a crucial foul in the box. This set up a penalty kick taken by junior Tyler Smith, in what would ultimately become the first goal of the season allowed by the Dixie defense as Smith’s shot flew into the right side of the goal.
Later in the first half, with momentum on their side, junior Carter Goodman made a clean tackle at our own 40 yard line, dribbled 20 yards through the Dixie midfielders, and sent a long pass to his left. Sophomore Alex Runge, who was in full stride, caught up to the pass and sent a shot into the back of the net…making the score 3-2 as halftime quickly followed.
Although the second half was also filled with plenty of action, 3-2 would hold on to be the the final score. Senior Logan Rauen checked in at halftime and made 4 saves, as did junior Michael Cooney in the first half. Freshmen Carson Hesse and Kyle Piscitello also played well as they saw their first Varsity minutes.
It’s always nice to see when athletes can leave it all of the on the field and walk off as friends. Often times, opposing teams have great friends who are former teammates and still humor their parents by taking a quick picture.
The Mustangs look to build upon Tuesday night’s effort, and will hopefully welcome back seniors Colin Ratcliff, Landon Bain and Lucas Steffen, when they travel 83 miles south-east to Montgomery County this Thursday night. This is a rematch of last year’s 10th Region Tournament, where “MoCo” edged the Mustangs by a score of 2-1 on October 14th. The Indians are 3-3 this season, and currently on a two game losing streak.